


Holiday Surprises

by jane_x80



Series: Tony Skates [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Ice Skating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 19:08:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8765440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_x80/pseuds/jane_x80
Summary: When a body is found on the ice of an ice-skating rink, Tony finds himself alone on the ice and gets to skate to his heart's content. Of course, Gibbs catches him at it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This story was supposed to be for the Day 4 Theme for the [LJ Happy Holiday Challenge](http://ncis-discuss.livejournal.com/54808.html), but I missed the posting date. The theme was "Ice Skating". Suffice it to say we were driving long distance in yesterday's snowstorm and I wrote this in the car since we were pretty much skating on the road in the car (yes, not fun). Happily we made it to our destination safely, but I did miss the posting date. The story is done so I'm going to post it here just for fun.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy this!

It was the week after Thanksgiving and Tony walked into the deserted ice rink and took a deep, calming breath. Earlier, it had been a madhouse there. Everyone had been there to process the crime scene. Ducky, and Palmer, Gibbs’ entire MCRT. There had also been some local cops, some university police personnel, rink maintenance people, plus several others who had had the unfortunate luck to discover the dead Lieutenant on the ice. The victim had been a graduate student at the US Naval Academy, and had been found dead on the on-campus ice rink. But they had done their work and had been able to release the crime scene and gotten out of there.

But now, hours after the scene had been released, Tony was back to check the ice against a few of the photos he’d taken earlier. They had photographed the scene extensively and he could have just gone with that evidence, but he liked to double check everything and there was nothing like seeing it in person again to help him view the case in a different light.

Unfortunately, they’d released the crime scene and the maintenance people had done their work. The ice was mirror smooth. The Zamboni machine had been through.

Tony sighed and pulled out his cell phone. Scrolling through, he dialed Abby.

“Tonyyyyyyyyy!” Abby answered enthusiastically. “Did you get a visual confirmation?”

“Negative,” Tony sighed. “They’ve zambonied the ice.”

“Argh! I _knew_ I should’ve gotten that section of ice brought back to the lab!” Abby lamented.

“The photos and drillings that we brought back is enough though, isn’t it?”

“I can make it work,” Abby sighed.

“There might still be traces of it buried under there,” Tony shrugged. “We can still bring you ice back and you can cross section it or whatever the hell black magic it is you do, my Queen of the Dark.”

“It’s science, Tony,” Abby said firmly. “Ok, I’ll send people out to retrieve the ice. You stay there and don’t let them run the Zamboni again. Guard my ice, Tony!”

“Roger that, Abs,” Tony nodded. He called the rink maintenance manager to alert him of the new plan, and even though the man complained, they all understood the need to find the murderer.

Tony stood staring at the smooth ice, hypnotized, for ten minutes before he realized that it would be a while before Abby’s minions arrived. Perhaps the better part of two hours to gather all the appropriate equipment. It wasn’t like cutting out ice from an ice rink was something they did every day. Plus they would need a freezer truck to transport the ice back to the Navy Yard. So he thought he would try to get some of the work done for them, at least mark out the area to be excised. Carefully, he stepped onto the ice in his dress shoes.

“You want skates?” the manager had arrived, and called out to him. “I saw you earlier. You were more than competent on the ice.”

Tony grinned. “Sure, I’ll take skates if you got ‘em.”

“Size twelve, right?” The manager rummaged around the skate storage area before he yelled back. “Looks like no hockey skates in your size. Wonder what happened to the ones you had on earlier? Figure skates ok?” The man made a face.

Tony shrugged. “Whatever,” he told the man, accepting the skates.

He laced the figure skates on, left his dress shoes and got on the ice, his movements smooth and practiced. Earlier, he’d had hockey skates on and had been instrumental in keeping Ducky, Palmer and McGee safe on the ice. Ziva had mocked him for his ease on skates and he’d admitted to playing some hockey in high school, but even Ziva knew that if Tony hadn’t been there, it would have taken them a much longer time to process the crime scene and possible contamination of the evidence due to falls and such.

The manager excused himself, leaving to reschedule events at the rink, given that they were going to be down for longer than expected now that NCIS needed to cut out a section of the ice. Tony waved to the man.

And then, he found himself alone at the rink again. He skated over to where the body had lain and carefully put markers down to outline the area that they would need to excise. He decided to take more detailed photographs of the area before Abby’s people got there, and he did so with great care. But once he was done, he looked around. He had the ice all to himself and there was no one in sight. Grinning happily, he threw his backpack off the ice by his shoes and began skating in earnest, testing out the feel of the skates.

When he’d admitted to playing hockey in high school, it hadn’t been a lie. He’d played some hockey then. But his love affair with the ice had started much earlier. His mother had adored figure skating and he remembered skating with her even as a toddler, barely able to walk. His mother had signed him up for figure skating lessons and Tony had actually been quite good. He’d been forced to give it up when his father disowned him four years after his mother died, and at twelve, sent him to boarding school. It would’ve been terrible for him if it got out that he was a figure skater, especially at that tender age in an all boys boarding school. Being strung up the flagpole would have been the least of his worries. So, Tony had then picked up ice hockey instead. He had played casually with his friends, not joining the high school team, and he’d enjoyed it without losing any teeth or breaking any bones.

But now, alone on the ice, he sailed at top speed, really feeling out the skates and the beautifully smooth ice. It had been a very long time since he skated with a toe pick.

He made sure to steer clear of the section he’d marked out for extraction but other than that, he threw himself into it, warming up more and more, becoming more and more comfortable on the ice, getting to the point where he started doing leg lifts and spins. Then he built up speed and attempted a jump, a double loop, and flubbed the landing, barely remaining on his feet, one palm on the ice to keep him from falling over completely. But for someone who hadn’t attempted a jump in over two decades, it really wasn’t that bad of a try.

He laughed out loud as he recovered from his first, terrible jump. It felt great to be in the air again. Part of why he’d loved basketball was that dunking had made him feel like he was flying. Same as when he launched himself in the air to receive a pass when playing football. It all went back to jumping in the air, back to figure skating and ultimately, back to the few good memories of his mother.

Tony lost himself skating – speeding, dancing, spinning, doing some stunts, and then he built enough confidence to attempt another jump. This time he executed the double loop flawlessly, nailing the landing and whooping for joy, jumping both feet in the air, fists raised in triumph, ice spraying as he landed and skidded happily.

He continued to skate, starting to throw himself into more jumps and more complicated moves, picking himself up off the ice on more than one occasion when his ambition outweighed his ability to execute. He even attempted to execute a few triple jumps, with varying degrees of success and bruises.

Finally, he slowed down and just did lazy circles and loops, skating backwards and forwards, maybe a spin or two before he made his way back to the edge of the ice. He was panting, out of breath, face flushed and smiling happily to himself when he suddenly saw Gibbs standing, arms crossed, his expression the usual, a cross between an angry wolf and a constipated bear.

Tony’s smile froze on his face before he wiped all traces of it off and assumed a professional expression. Perhaps Gibbs hadn’t been there very long.

“Did Abby let you know what was happening?” he asked nonchalantly, ignoring the fact that Gibbs had watched him skate, at least a little bit. He was hoping that Gibbs had just gotten there and only seen the last part where he had been skating lazily to cool down.

Gibbs nodded.

“You need to double check the markers I set out there?” Tony inclined his head towards the bright yellow markers and tape that Tony had set earlier.

Gibbs shook his head.

“Ok,” Tony said carefully. “Is this where I try to guess what new developments have occurred while I was here waiting for Abby’s guys?”

“No new developments,” Gibbs finally said his first words.

“You need me to go do something else?” Tony sounded hopeful now. Maybe he would be able to escape before they exchanged any more words.

Gibbs shook his head.

Tony sighed. “Did you just get here?” he asked, knowing that of course he was screwed and Gibbs had probably been there a while.

Gibbs slowly shook his head. “Nope,” he said drolly, making the ‘p’ sound pop loudly.

“Let’s hear it,” Tony said tiredly, steeling himself for whatever snarky comment Gibbs was about to make.

“Didn’t know you knew how to figure skate,” Gibbs said softly.

Tony lowered his eyes and blushed furiously. He nodded in answer.

“You said you played hockey,” Gibbs continued.

“I _did_ play hockey.”

Gibbs cocked his head and stared at Tony for a long moment, the younger man refusing to meet Gibbs’ eyes. Tony didn’t want to see the amusement or ridicule in them. In fact, he dropped to his knees and started unlacing his skates.

“Should keep those on,” Gibbs’ voice startled him. “Might need you out there when Abby’s people get here. They might not be able to handle themselves as well on the ice as you can.”

“On it,” Tony laced his skates up again.

He stood and cleared his throat as he picked up his backpack. They stood next to each other in awkward silence, Tony towering over Gibbs in his skates.

“Looked good out there,” Gibbs finally said, voice soft and gentle.

Tony stared at him in shock, finally meeting his eyes. He scrutinized Gibbs’ face for any hint of mockery or derision and found none. All he could see was admiration.

“Wh-what?” he finally stammered.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. “You nailed some of those jumps.”

Tony paled dramatically. No one had seen him figure skate his entire adult life. It was a very odd feeling to know that Gibbs had now seen him do it. “Right. Uh. Thanks.”

Gibbs shook his head and smiled, a rare open smile that hid nothing. “I liked it. Liked watching you.”

And suddenly Tony was blushing again. He wondered if it was possible to get an aneurysm from blushing and paling and then blushing again too quickly. He cleared his throat and nodded awkwardly. “Thanks.”

They stood in awkward silence until Abby’s minions arrived to claim the ice. Tony took to the ice again, helping where he was needed. Gibbs stayed to watch the proceedings, smiling to himself at Tony’s antics on the ice. He was clowning around but his proficiency was obvious.

On Christmas morning, Tony was awakened by loud knocks on his door. He opened it to Gibbs who handed him a beautifully wrapped box.

“What’s going on?” Tony was still sleepy and not quite with the program having not yet had any coffee. “Do we have a case?”

“Open this then get dressed,” Gibbs told him, pushing his way in and settling himself on Tony’s couch.

Yawning, Tony scratched his belly as he stumbled over to the couch and practically fell onto it next to Gibbs. “Looks nice,” he finally said as he looked over the gaily wrapped package.

“The girl at the store wrapped it for me. Shut up and open it,” Gibbs told him impatiently.

Tony tore into it and pulled the box open to find a new pair of figure skates. Amazed, and wide awake now, he stared, wide eyed at Gibbs. “What? Why?” for once the glib Tony DiNozzo was lost for words.

“Get dressed. I got the US Naval Academy to give you their rink all to yourself this whole morning. We can get coffee and donuts on the way.”

Whooping happily, Tony ran into his bedroom to get dressed, the skates looped in his hand, but before he did anything he ran back out, grabbed Gibbs’ face, dropped a kiss full on his lips and then he streaked back into his bedroom to dress for their Christmas skating outing.


End file.
